KS4 Science
Welcome to GCSE Science Vimeo
What do you study?
The Science course which draws together the essential skills of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, It is all about how our universe works. It looks at many different aspects including:
- How living things work, reproduce and affect each other and the natural environment.
- How we can use and exploit the world’s natural resources.
- How we can develop alternatives to the fast-diminishing resource of the planet and attempt to safeguard our future.
- How we can apply technologies, both old and new, to improve our daily lives.
- Where possible, we try to use experiments and demonstrations to cover the ideas.
Topics covered include cells, inheritance, ecology, atomic structure, organic chemistry, chemical analysis, forces, energy and electricity.
Why study Science?
- The course lets you develop your scientific skills further.
- The nation as a whole needs to have a good grasp of scientific ideas so that we can make sensible choices about our future. This course provides a lot of the information and analytical skills necessary to allow you to contribute in an informed manner.
- The triple or combined GCSE options are the essential qualifications needed if you plan to take any science (including Environmental Science, Geology and Psychology) further.
- A huge number of career paths need science qualifications, including engineering and all medical careers.
At the end of Year 9 and as a result of performance in Year 9, either one or two groups of students will be given the option of doing the Triple Science course where students study three separate Science GCSEs in the curriculum time given for two. This will involve completing extra content for Biology, Chemistry and Physics and is suitable only for those students whose performance and attitude is deemed by their teachers to warrant a place on the course. Parents will be informed by letter at the end of Year 9 if their children have been selected for this course.
How is the course assessed?
There will be no coursework component, instead, all students will carry out 16 ‘required practicals’ that will be tested within the examination. There will be 6 exams at the end of the course; 2 Biology, 2 Chemistry and 2 Physics.
Combined Science Exam weighted equally between Biology, Chemistry and Physics
Most students will follow the ‘Combined Science’ qualification equivalent to two GCSEs and graded as 4,4 or 7,7.